“Evaluate the Strengths and Weaknesses of Reason as a Way of Knowing?”

“Reasoning is the thinking that is coherent and logical.” As the dictionary definition very clearly and correctly states, reasoning is certain thinking or a conclusion drawn from a logical fact. Hence, the reasoning of a certain thing, which is a conclusion drawn from an existing fact or the happening of an event, is trusted more than the conclusion which is drawn due the development of one’s emotions. Consequently, when a person would say to another, “You’re being emotional”, it is considered as a cynical comment while the statement, “You’re being logical” is taken as praise. Therefore, it is obvious that logic and reasoning holds strengths which are stronger than those of emotions.

In today’s world, the younger generation is burdened by a number of axioms, theorems and laws which they have to use in their daily studies. It is globally known that these laws were discovered and explored by both scientists, and mathematicians, and the very reason why they were discovered is that these great scientists had researched and come to a certain conclusion after performing certain experiments. Hence comes about one of the strengths of reasoning – one can reason and come to a correct final judgement with the date provided, as long as the data is logical and acceptable. Thus, in applied sciences reasoning plays a very important role as it is solely due to the “reasoning” of certain things that today we can take the help of these axioms and theorem without maintaining any doubt in our minds.

In addition to the help provided by reasoning, to hard sciences, reasoning also maintains its advantages in the field of commerce and human sciences, because, in economics and business studies, it is very important to reason and reach a certain conclusion. This is because, when businesses need to do market research to find out whether they should invest in order to achieve growth, or launch a new product/improved product, they would research and do sampling in order to see things...

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...There are four main ways of knowing – reason, perception, language and emotion. However each one of them have their own strengths and weaknesses and only by knowing them will we be able to better use these ways of knowing to gain knowledge. This essay will seek to examine the strengths and weaknesses of reason as a way of knowing.
Reason is often seen as one of the most powerful ways of knowing – for it ‘seems to give us certainty’ (Lagemaat, 112). Reason uses logic to form arguments and conclusions. A benefit of reason using logic in reason is that it allows us access to innate or a priori knowledge – knowledge we cannot access any other way. One definition of A priori knowledge is innate knowledge that is not derived from experience but rather, are universal rules that we apply. (Cahn,Eckert,Buckley). There are several different forms that reason takes but these are mainly inductive and deductive reasoning – which will be discussed later in the essay.
A major strength of reason as a way of knowing is that the information we gather from using it is certain. This is a great strength because we are provided...

...Theory of knowledge |
EVALUATE THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF REASON AS A WAY OF KNOWING |
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Reason is a priori. All humans are born with it. It is a way of knowing as it is used in every area of knowledge and in collaboration with the other ways of knowing. Unlike the implication of the prescribed essay topic, reason is not a distinctive way of knowing. To say that is an oversimplification of the complexity of knowing. Knowledge can only be obtained through the inextricably linked ways of knowing.
Reason comes to us naturally. For example, we purposely choose to recall past experiences to apply it to new and similar experiences. Most people value reason over the other ways of knowing. For example, North Americans have the “be reasonable” and “think before you act” idioms, and the Chinese have the “do not use emotions to act” idiom. Whenever I get angry or sad, those around me would remind me of those sayings. As can be inferred from the Chinese saying, emotion as a way of knowing is interpreted, at least by the Chinese, as the most unreliable. Globally, emotion is largely seen as the opposite of reason.
The...

...fact that this is a piece of paper can be disputed and even proved wrong.
Reason seems like an excellent way to work out the world around us. It uses all of the facts available to come up with a suitable hypothesis which can be tested and either proved or disproved through experimentation. This is the foundation of science, which is what the majority of people would trust. So anything proved through scientific means is therefore and irrefutable fact. Of course, in every experiment write up there is an acknowledgement that the data collected might not be completely accurate or that the interpretation of results might be wayward but again this is perfectly reasonable. It is reasonable to assume that despite your best efforts you may have got the answer wrong and another answer, no matter how unlikely, may be correct.
As well as reason being proved by scientific experiment it can also be proved by historical fact. For example, it is undisputable fact that on 30th May 1431 Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. That cannot be argued with, it was that date and will always be that date no matter what happens in the future and every history text or website would agree with that fact. So it is therefore illogical to start claiming that Joan of Arc died last week as historical facts, which are perfectly reasonable, tell us otherwise.
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...Reason is a way of knowing in which we construct meanings together through modifying and improving individual opinions and ideas, in order to reach a plausible or logical conclusion. In other words, reason is the ability to help people decide what is true and what is not. Most of the time, reason is more commonly related to math and science subjects, where logic is put into place in order to obtain logical validity and justify claims. Through observations and experiments, we can prove, within reason, whether a hypothesis is true or not, and in the end, broaden and individual’s knowledge. On the other hand, reason can cloud knowledge to a certain extent, in the case of different culture beliefs as well as more creative subjects such as music and art. This is because we also rely on emotion and perception. Moreover, don’t we require the use of emotion and perception in order to gain reason? Isn’t there a difference in reason depending on culture and beliefs? How can we gain truth through reason when the will always be a sense of individuality and different viewpoints? Reason can help us gain knowledge, but only to a certain extent, therefore, there are strengths and weaknesses in the case of reason as a way of obtaining knowledge.
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...“Evaluate the ways in which emotion might enhance and/or undermine reason as a Way of Knowing.”
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) once said that "The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing", meaning that emotion is irrational and unreasonable. Emotional expression provides powerful communication between people, especially in the early childhood stage of our lives, before language even develops. A baby’s glowing smile invites love and care in its surrounding; the pounding cry of an infant can send one running instantly to attend to its needs. After this, voice, posture and facial expressions and gestures occur, developing our ability to control our emotions, which does not always happen. Emotion affects our thought-process, and in the heat of the moment, emotion often makes us do and/or say things that we don’t necessarily mean, and makes us more vulnerable to temptations, without thinking of the outcome/consequence. They can cloud our judgment, leading to irrational external behavior, however, emotion is not all bad, and is what drives us to do so many things, like making scientific discoveries, perseverance to lose weight, no matter how tired you feel. Emotions consist of passions, moods, perceptions and senses which create internal feelings that are sometimes expressed externally. Reason is part of formal logic, and pure reason is...

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My strengths and weaknesses define who I am. My strengths help me become a better person and my weaknesses keep me fighting to be that better person. Recognizing my own personal strengths I am able to build on them and use them towards my advantage. I believe these attributes make you who you are and show your true abilities as a person. The famous quote, “My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength”, by Michael Jordan, are wise words spoken to motivate one into thinking about the way they choose to life their life and how they go about it. Everyone has his or her own weaknesses; it is what you do with it that makes you who you are.
A quality of myself that I would like to consider a personal strength is that I am an extremely outgoing person. With this being said, I have good communication skills and a lot of self-confidence. Being able to speak out loud, make friends easily, talk to anyone, anywhere at anytime and not be a dull person is a good quality to withhold because it has helped me in school and eventually will help me in my future career.
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